Bathroom article holder



BATHROOM ARTICLE HOLDER Filed March 8, 1949 @umumwm;

BY wigm ATTQWNEY.

Patented Dec. 4, 1951 UNITED STATES PAT E NT OF 12,577,011v

eA'rHRooM ARTICLE HOLDER GustavA. hallcnscheid, Loswdngeles, Califi, as

signor, to Hall;Ma ck Company, Los- Angeles, Calif a corporation ofCalifornia Application- March 8, 1949; Serial 'No. 80,253

SClaims. (c1. sit-2412) 1 The presentinventionrelates to bathroom.fix-'tures,and more particularly to a bathroom-article holder, wherein an 1article supportingportion thereof is removable for cleaning.

The art pertainingto bathroom fixtures is a crowded one, and themakersof'this type of equipment haveinade numerous changes and impiovementsin'their'products during recent years.

This development has been stimulated by the tremendous increase inresidence building; Fixtures cot chrome and plastic combinations havebeen very popular, since their-brightness and ease'of cleaning addsgreatlyto the appearance of abathroom. One fixture which has not beensatisfactorily designed in sucha combinationis' a soap dish or tumblerholder: Inthe-caseoff sucha fixture it-isdesi'rable that it fit'into arelatively shallow recess in the wall-in which: itis to be installed.Previous attempts to design sucha' fixture have resulted eitherin anarrangement where a metal shelf projected from 'a recessed wall plate,which added to the-oost of manufac= ture and made it-more difiicultto.cleaii, or=where a forwardly projecting plastic insert was. used. inwhich case the inserteither became -jammed in place by an accretion ofsoap deposit or 'fell out when the soap.orotherarticle became stuck: tothe insert or:was'placed't0o' closetoitsrproe:

jecting forward edge.

An object of the present invention is to make.

an improved combination article holding bathroom fixture.

Anotherobject is to-makean improved articleholding bathroom fixture-withdemountable arti== cle support portions.

Another objectis to make a bathroom fixture with a: recessed housing andeasilydetachableinterlocking article support portions.

In order toattain these objects there'isprovided in accordance'with onefeatureof'the in vention ametal' recessed housing adapted for mountingover a hole'ina wall; the housing hav ing a pair of inwardlyprojectingstuds anda re movable plastic article supportadapted tobe'in'serted in the housing recess and to proje'ct for-- wardly therefrom.

The present invention contemplates-the provision of an article supporthaving a substantially rectangular frame section formed with a semi-'-cylindrical vertical recess, the end walls of which are horizontal, thesaid recess being provided to accommodate :an article to be supportedandreceiving an article supporting member detachabl-y securedin osition and:interlocking 1 in a imam-- ner prevent til-tingof the-article support;

, 2 The;inventionis'illustrated by way of ekainple. in ;the accompanyingdrawingin which;

Figure 1, is a View in perspective showi gah article holding fixtureembodying the present in-.-

vention mountedon a wall.

Fig. 2-is a sectional View takenin the of: the line. 2.-,-.2 of Fig. land shows the relationship,

0f,.the holderand the demountable member. s

Fig; 3 isan,enlargediragmentary view in ver;

tical sectiontaken,inthe plane of th e line,3 3 of Fig, Zand shows theconnection between the:

insert and the housing.

Fig, i; is a fragmentary view central vertiw cal section showing amodified form. of theinvention.

Fig, 5 is a fragmentary view in central section showing anothermodification of the.

present invention.

In the illustrated embodimentofthe a housinglillismadeof sheetor'cast-metal, such as brass, steel; or die casting metal, andcomtarnish-resistant plating, or enamel.

insertedin a hole or recess; providedin a-wall. l6,

as shown in Fig. 2. The framev portion ll contact with the face ofthewall so as toconf ceal'theedges of the wall opening. Thehousing maybe secured in position as shownin ,li' ig 2 whereawooden header 3. ismounted transver 1y betweenadjacent; studdings [311: on oppos tev sidesof thewall openi-ng. 'Ijhe-headeris spaced inwardly; from the; jaee ofthe wall a distance sufficient to permitthe rear of the. housing I tobe. secured; to theheader, by screws I i, with-the:

frame l [in position against-the face of thewal l. In the'case ofmasonry walls. a seat oiplaster or other suitable adhesive may bemountedin theqwall openingand thehousing lfllpressjed into;

position-inthe material so as to be seated-therein; Whenwintended forsetting in suchmaterial the; rearface of thesemicylindrical portion 2:of the 1 housing. preferably is provided with roughened,areas'or-withprojections of ausual-sort toex;

tend into the-material and increase the adhesionof the material with thehousing. p

Apair of studs 15 is mounted-oneon- .eachrside ofthesemicylindricalportion l2 of the housing to project inwardlytherefrom, as be'strshown in: An article supporting insert H is: molded:preferably of a cleartrans'parent substance such; as.'an acrylicrresin;The insert; member. hasja semi-circular rear face adapted to be insertedin, and to conform to the curvature of, the semicylindrical portion I2of the housing. The insert I! has an upwardly extending circularlycurved rear marginal wall I8 molded integrally with the body of theinsert and adapted to conform closely to the curved wall of the recess.The forward end portions of the wall I8 are of a thickness somewhatgreater than the length of the studs I5, and are each provided withvertical grooved channels I9, as shown in Fig. 3, adapted to receive thestuds I when the insert I1 is inserted into the recess above the levelof the studs I5 and then moved slidably downward over them. The forwardportion 20 of the insert IT is of a length to extend forwardly beyondthe face of the rectangular frame portion II of the housing. The entireupper surface of the insert I! may be molded to form a continuousplaniform surface, as illustrated, so that the device can be used forholding soap or a tumbler interchangeably; or if desired, may be givenany of the usual special conformations where the holder is to be usedonly for holding a tumbler, or soap, as the case may be.

The portion 20 of the base which projects forwardly from the rectangularframe portion II is thicker than the portion within the recess I2 of thehousing and has a downward step or offset portion 2| (see Fig. 2), toengage and form an interlock with frame I I below the recess I2. Thisinterlock, together with the engagement of the studs I5 with the sidesof their respective receiving channels I9, resists downward stresses onthe forwardly projecting portion 20 of the support area of the insert.This resistance to such stresses increases in proportion to increase inthe stresses.

In the use of the present structure the housing I is suitably mountedwithin a hole or recess in a building wall by the screws l4, and isdisposed so that the semi-circular recess I2 will be verticallypositioned. The studs will be positioned adjacent the lower horizontalface of the recess and will be at opposite sides thereof. The articlesupport may then he slipped into the recess so that its arcuate wall I8will conform to the contour of the recess, and its lower face will restupon the horizontal lower wall of the frame. The slotted openings I9 ofthe article support I! are then placed in register with the studs I5 andthe article support is moved downwardly until it rests upon the bottomface of the semi-circular recess. At this time the overhanging portion20 of the article support U will be disposed so that its shoulder oroffset portion 2| will rest against the front face of the frame I I. Byreference to Fig. 2 it will be evident that this plane of contact isconsiderably below the points of engagement of the studs I5 with theslots I9. Thus any weight which is disposed upon the overhanging portion20 will tend to cause the studs I5 to interlock with the slots I9 and toprevent the article support from being dislodged. In fact, the weight ofa tumbler or the like disposed on the upper horizontal face of thearticle support I! will tend to cause the article support to be held inposition and any over-balancing weight imposed upon the overhangingportion 20 will act to hold the article support more firmly.

It will be obvious that in the construction here disclosed thecooperation of the studs I5 and the offset shoulder portion 2I will actto hold the article support in position regardless of whether or not anyweight is imposed upon it. Due to this construction it is not necessaryto provide any complicated attaching means or any means which mightbecome coated or corroded. For this reason the article support may beeasily lifted upwardly in the recess so that the studs I5 will not be inengagement with the slotted recesses I9, thus allowing the support to beeasily removed and cleaned, and replaced when desired.

By reference to Fig. 4 of the drawings it will be seen that a protrusion22 is formed on the rear semi-cylindrical wall I6 of the housing I2.This i in a plane to be occupied by the upper edge or face of thearticle supporting insert I1. This construction embodies an alternateform of the invention 50 that the upper edge of the insert I! may beplaced beneath the protrusion and will cooperate with the studs I5 andtheir slots I9 to hold the insert in position in the same manner aswould be accomplished by the shoulder 2I.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 5 of the drawings it will be seenthat the insert I1 is formed as previously described with a shoulder 2|which rests against the front face of the frame II. In this particulardevice the use of slots I9 and the studs I5 is eliminated and in placethereof a hook 23 is secured to the back wall of the housing andprojects forwardly to overhang the armate wall I8 of the insert I1. Inthis device a shoulder 2I and the hook 23 cooperate to secure theinsertI'I detachably and make it possible for the insert to be easily tiltedand lifted from the housing and moved to a position of disengagementwith the hook 23.

It will thus be seen that the invention here disclosed is simple inconstruction and will insure that the mounting member may be easilydetached and removed.

While I have shown the preferred form of my invention as now known tome, it will be understood that various changes may be made incombination, construction and arrangement of parts by those skilled inthe art, without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is:

1. An article holding bathroom fixture having a housing adapted to bemounted on a building wall, said fixture having a forwardly exposedrecess therein, a stud mounted on a side of the recessed portion of saidhousing to project into said recess, an article supporting insert memberhaving a rear face thereof adapted to enter and substantially to conformwith the portion of said fixture defining the rear wall of said recess,said insert member being adapted to seat upon the portion of the housingdefining the lower end of said recess, said insert member having avertically disposed channel therein adapted to receive said stud uponmoving said insert member downwardly into seated position upon the lowerend of said recess, said insert member having a forward portion adaptedto project forwardly beyond said housing when inserted therein, and saidforward portion having a downwardly extending offset portion adapted tooverlie and have interlocking engagement with a forward marginal portionof said housing defining the lower edge of said recess.

2. An article holding bathroom fixture adapted to be mounted in a wallopening, said fixture having a housing with a marginal frame portion anda central forwardly exposed recessed portion, a stud mounted on eachside of the recessed portion of said housing to project into therecessed portion, an article supporting insert member adapted to enterand substantially to conform with the lower end of said recessedportion, said insert having a vertically disposed channel in each sidethereof adapted to receive said studs on moving said insert downwardlyinto seated position on the lower end of said recess, said insert memberhaving a forward portion adapted to project forwardly beyond saidhousing when inserted therein, and said forward portion having adownwardly extending offset portion adapted to overlie and haveinterlocking engagement with said frame portion below the recessedportion of said housing.

3. An article holding bathroom fixture comprising a metallic housinghaving a forwardly recessed thin walled portion of semicylindrical shapeadapted to be mounted in an opening of Conforming shape and size in abuilding wall with the cylindrical axis vertical, a marginal frameportion unitary with the recessed portion adapted to lie against thebuilding wall to cover and conceal the edges of the wall opening inwhich the recessed portion is mounted, a molded plastic articlesupporting insert adapted to be inserted in said recessed portion to lieadjacent the lower end thereof, said insert having a rear edge thereofcurved to conform to the wall of the recessed portion, a rear marginalwall formed integrally with the insert and curved to conform to thecurvature of the wall of the recessed portion, said insert having avertical groove in each side thereof extending from the lower side ofsaid insert up into the wall portion thereof, a pair of lugs mountedabove the lower end of said recessed portion to project inwardly intothe recessed portion to enter said grooves, a forwardly extendingportion formed integrally with said insert and having its upper surfaceco-extensive with that of the remainder of the insert other than saidwall, and a downwardly offset step portion formed integrally with saidforwardly extending portion and adapted to overlie and have interlockingengagement with the frame portion of said housing below the level ofsaid studs to resist downward pressure on the forwardly extendingportion of said insert.

4. The structure of claim 3 wherein the oilset step portion is formed bya substantial thickening of the forwardly extending portion of theinsert.

5. An article holding bathroom fixture comprising a housing having aforwardly opening semicylindrical recessed portion therein adapted to bemounted with the cylinder axis vertical in a conforming opening in abuilding wall, said housing having an inwardly projecting member on eachside and spaced upwardly from the lower end of said recessed portion, amolded, easily cleaned decorative insert with fiat upper surface adaptedto be inserted into the recess to conform with the lower end thereof,said insert having substantially vertical upwardly extending groovestherein adapted to receive the inwardly projecting members on a downwardmovement of said insert from an elevated position in said recess, theforward portion of said insert when mounted in said recess being of alength to project forwardly beyond said housing to extend the articlesupporting area thereof, and a downwardly projecting element on theunder side of said forward portion adapted to overlie the lower frontmargin of said recessed portion below the level of said inwardlyprojecting members, thereby to resist pivotal movement of the insertabout said latter members when downward stresses are applied to theprojecting forward end of said insert.

, GUSTAV A. HALLENSCHEID.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,239,076 Baker Sept. 4, 19171,536,906 Miller May 5, 1925 2,311,968 Schallis Feb. 23, 1943 2,319,104Andrews May 11, 1943

